Bitcoin tumbled Wednesday to a fresh 18-month low, dragging smaller digital assets and deepening a market meltdown triggered by U.S. cryptocurrency bank Celsius this week, which froze customer withdrawals.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency dropped 7.8% to $20,289, the lowest since December 2020. Bitcoin has already dropped about 28% since Friday and more than half its price. value this year. From a record $69,000 in November, the digital currency is down 70%.
Cryptocurrency funds saw outflows of $102 million last week, according to digital asset manager CoinShares, who cited investor expectations of a stricter policy from the US central bank.
The global cryptocurrency market cap has dropped 70% to less than $900 billion from a peak of $2.97 trillion in November, data from CoinMarketCap shows.
“The ripples rippling through the market haven’t stopped,” said Scottie Siu, chief investment officer at Axion Global Asset Management. “I think we’re still in the middle of it, unfortunately, the game isn’t over yet.”
Smaller cryptocurrencies, which tend to move in tandem with bitcoin, also dropped. Ether, the second-largest digital asset, dropped 12% to $1,045, a new 15-month low.
The chaos in the cryptocurrency market has spread to other companies, with several exchanges reducing their workforce.
Binance opens 2,000 jobs for hire, says president
Amid extreme volatility in the cryptocurrency market, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has opened 2,000 new staffing positions, Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao said on Wednesday, a stark contrast to a string of job cuts in the industry.
“It wasn’t easy saying no to Super Bowl ads, stadium naming rights, big sponsor deals a few months ago, but we did it. Today, we have 2,000 spots open at #Binance,” Zhao said in a tweet to his 6. 4 million followers on Twitter.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said on Tuesday it would cut about 1,100 jobs, or 18% of its workforce, the latest company bracing for a downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
BlockFi and Crypto.com also cut hundreds of jobs, while Meta and Intel also put the brakes on hiring.
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